Koi Drawings

As I continue developing my work for a 40" x 40" "Crossings" challenge, the red circles on the background fabric suggested bubbles to me (see  Step #1, Step #2,, Step #3, Step 4, and Step 5) .   My thoughts turned to fish.  I first conceived of salmon going upstream to spawn, but the faces of salmon seem almost mean to me.  When I think of lovely fish, koi always seem to come to mind. Koi swim over and under each other and cross through ponds of lily pads. That idea stuck with me so I set about sketching a couple of these fish. The images that evolved were from my memories of koi fish.  They are not meant to be anatomically correct. 

I first pencil sketched a couple of koi images on paper and then poster printed the sketches. 

The koi that was to become orange was printed on a 2x2 poster print setting.  The pages were then taped together and color was added with Inktense pencils.

 I also printed the koi that was to become red in the same manner; however, because of it's curve it needed to be printed in a 3x3 poster setting.

Tomorrow I will post about transferring the drawings to fabric and painting them with Setacolor fabric paints.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #5

Adding Salt for Texture

(For those who are just now joining in you can follow along from the beginning by linking to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3  and Step 4.)

While the fabric was still saturated with layers of Setacolor fabric paint washes, I took out my improvised shaker of kosher salt that had been a taco sauce bottle.

Converted Taco Sauce Bottle

To make the bottle into a shaker I used an awl to punch holes in the lid.

Bottle Cap Top with Punched Holes

I then sprinkled salt all over the wet fabric.

Shaking Salt onto Wet Paint Washes

I usually do this step with the fabric in sunlight, but it was night and I wanted to see if the salt would draw up color without the benefit of the sunlight magic.  It worked, although not as dramatically as if the sun had been on it.  For the purpose of this work, the result was fine.  Yay!  Hard "edges" of color were softened and visual texture was created.

Close-up:  Result of Adding Salt to Paint Washings

Tomorrow I will post about a couple of images that I want to applique to this block printed,  painted background fabric.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #4

Three Layers of Transparent Wash

The first picture in this post is the printed fabric with three overlays of color.  It's rather like eating dessert first and then having dinner.  What follows is how the wash overlays were accomplished.

If you have been following along with my series of 31 Day Block Writing posts about block printing with foam, please bear with me as I reference earlier steps for those who are just now joining in.   To follow along from the beginning link to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3 here.

Step 4 of using the block prints in a large work involved using simple tools.

Tools

Spray Bottle with Clear Water

 

Inexpensive Brushes from a Home Improvement Store

I first sprayed the entire piece of fabric with clear water to make it quite damp.  In a canning jar I then made a mixture of Setacolor Lemon Yellow a very few drops of Setacolor Bright Orange transparent fabric paint, and then mixed it with clear water in a 1:1 ratio of paint-to-water.  Then the paint brush was dunked into the paint/water mixture and washed across the entire fabric.

Partial Overlay of Yellow/Orange Wash

Once the fabric was completely washed with the Yellow/Orange color, the fabric was quite wet.  That actually turned out to be a good thing because it allow the next wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue to migrate in a serendipitous manner into the Yellow/Orange wash .  I mixed the blue fabric paint in the same 1:1 paint-to-water mixture as I did with the yellow/orange fabric paint.  Here it is, ready to use, in a canning jar.

Jar to Mix and Store Fabric Paint

Partial Wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue over 1st Wash of Setacolor Yellow/Orang

Here is what the two transparent layers of washes over the block printed fabric looked like.

Setacolor Cobalt Blue Randomly Added

Note:  My work surface was not wide enough to lay out the entire fabric, so I covered 2" thick insulation board with a plastic drop cloth, put that on top of my table and it was a perfect size to work on.

I failed to mention in my earlier posts that because of the to-be-announced theme, I believed that there needed to be intersecting lines.  To achieve this, I taped 3 pieces of 8.5" x 11" card stock together lengthwise, cut out a 7/8" strip with a craft knife and used it as a template to paint black strips to visually define the levels

Tomorrow I will blog about the finishing touches to this background piece.

Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

 Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Masks - Picking Up A 31 Day Challenge

After reading  Cheryl Sleboda's Muppin.com post it seemed like a brilliant idea to join in a challenge to post to my blog every day for 31 days.  If you would like to participate, go to this LINK and sign up. 

 

And here is the content of my post today.  This time it is not about quilts.  It is about masks.  It's a continuation of my blog post yesterday about the positive  impact that playtime has on the creative process.

Sometime ago I found that I had accumulated cardboard of various ply that I was hesitant about tossing, so I set about constructing and painting some cardboard masks.  Several sold at an Open Studio event.  Some I gave to my granddaughter who was in elementary school but who is now all grown up and away at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Her mama, my daughter, must have liked the two masks that I gave to my granddaughter because they suddenly made a reappearance a few days ago as decorations on a dress form that she is storing for me.

                                          Here are a few more that I have kept stored away.

Creating fanciful items has always seemed to play a front stage role in my creative process.  A touch of zany is good for freeing up the mind.  I'm thinking that I might like to create something like these masks in dimensional fiber.  Hmmmm.  Wonder where that will take me next.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved